Kalburabastı – Traditional Turkish Colander Pastry

Preparation

1. 01

   Boil and cool the syrup

   Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Once boiling, reduce the heat and let the syrup simmer gently for 8 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice, remove from the heat, and let cool completely.

2. 02

   Knead and rest the dough

   Combine the flour, semolina, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add the melted butter and yogurt and knead by hand into a soft, smooth dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 20 minutes.

3. 03

   Press dough through the sieve

   Dust the work surface with flour. Roll out the dough to about 1 cm thick. Place a coarse kitchen sieve (kalbur) opening-side down on the dough and press evenly with your hands to create the characteristic ridged pattern.

4. 04

   Cut dough into diamonds and place in the pan

   Cut the pressed dough with a sharp knife into uniform diamonds (approx. 4 × 3 cm). Place the pieces side by side with a little space between them in a lightly greased rectangular baking pan (approx. 30 × 20 cm).

5. 05

   Bake until golden brown

   Slide the baking pan into the preheated oven and bake the kalburabastı pieces until golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven and let the pieces cool in the pan for 5 minutes.

6. 06

   Pour syrup and let soak

   Pour the completely cooled syrup evenly over the still-warm, golden-brown kalburabastı pieces. Let the pieces soak for at least 30 minutes, until the syrup has been fully absorbed.

7. 07

   Sprinkle with walnuts

   Sprinkle the kalburabastı with finely ground walnuts and serve.